Monday, 28 April 2014

Proper crafting - a card for a real person!

I don't seem to get round to sending cards that often any more and, when I do, I generally take one from the huge box of previously finished projects. This weekend I made a card for an actual person, from scratch, and with a totally free hand, not trying to make it fit a challenge or DT obligation, or show a technique or product. I just made something I knew the birthday boy would like, and it felt goooooood.

The birthday boy in question is my Dad, a lifelong organic veg grower, painter, and bird-lover, and I recently bought a decoupage and paper pack that could have been designed for him - Papermania's "Home to Nest" by Lucy Cromwell. I really love Lucy Cromwell's painting style, and I think I like this collection almost as much as her Henbury Lane collection, one of my all time faves. All I added was some card and some garden twine style fibre.

When using die cuts, I always take the time to remove the 'bobbles' left from where the die cuts attach to the sheet. I snip them off with scissors, but you can also rub them off with a nail file. I think the finished project looks so much better without them.

Even the best die cuts have bits on them that I would have cut off, so I always go round and snip those bits too. The die cuts have still saved a lot of time, and anyway I enjoy cutting decoupage!

The twine is stuck onto the card as three lengths, only on the front, as it was a bit bulky for wrapping round the card - the card wouldn't have closed nicely otherwise. To stick it down, I ran a line of PVA glue along the edge of a ruler and then pushed the fibre into place. I cut it with a tiny bit extra, so it looks like it's wound round.